Fresh Starts
by Onyx-Jade
Summary: When Hermione is faced by a life-changing question, she must face reality. Does she want to continue this life? Does she want something more? In the process of starting something new, she'll meet ancient enemies, friends and new people-how will she cope?
1. Chapter 1

"Will you marry me?"

The question resonated around her head, repeating itself every second, echoing into eternity. She stood looking down to a handsome young man, who was holding her left hand with his right whilst holding a small red velvet case with his left one. The case held a white gold ring, with small rubies and diamonds incrusted all around it. If you looked closely enough, you would see a small inscription on the inside "_My heart will always be yours- RW". _ By the look on the young man's face, you could sense that he expected a positive answer; after all, what could go wrong with the love of your life, who has been your girlfriend for the past seven years? Nothing. Or that is what he thought.

The girl observed his light-blue eyes surrounded by freckles, and realized this was the crossroad she needed. She could say yes, and marry the man she loved and live happily ever after, or she could say no, and live an adventurous life in the muggle world- helping them as she had always wanted. She didn't need a diploma for people to know that she was brilliant, and that had always helped her. Her eyes glazed over as her purpose in life finally struck her...

"Ron, I... I can't, I'm sorry... I've been with you for so long that I can't possibly remember who I am, except in terms of "Ron's Girlfriend", I have got to find myself again, build my life again, and then... Maybe we can start over where we left..." she whispered, a quiet tear sliding down her eyes.

She heard his heart break immediately. His eyes were instantly filled to the brim with painful tears, his lips quivered for a moment before he bit them hardly and the pain that flashed through his eyes was even worse than what you saw in the eyes of the Crucio victims. He slowly stood up, and as he did so Hermione felt as if the world was shaking under them, as if it was paining over their loss as well.

"Baby, are you... are you sure about this?" questioned a now crying Ron. "You know how much I love you, and if this is what you want, I will not do anything to stop it. But please, before you leave me here, broken, question yourself, Is this really what you want?"

"I'm sorry Ron, but... Yes, this is definitely what I want... I need to live before I get settled, and I haven't done much of that. Yes, sure, I've had a successful career in the Ministry, but I do not want to be minister, and ... Well, after we defeated Voldemort, there is no excitement anymore, and without excitement, politics is extremely boring. We promised each other, the day of our Hogwarts graduation, that no matter what- we would never forget to love our lives. And I broke that promise a long time ago, I love you, but this life I'm heading towards, I hate... So, please, forgive me, but I cannot lie to myself anymore" she answered. Her speech was cut here and there by hiccups of pain, her body was shivering due to the coldness she now felt, and her heart was broken beyond repair, yet, she knew this was necessary if she wanted to truly live.

She did not think that she was ever going to be able to love someone as much as she had loved Ronald, they had shared too many things together- things that normal couples don't really go through. They'd fought alongside against the Death Eaters, they'd buried and welcomed friends into their lives, and they'd suffered the pains of life as well as its joys together. Their experiences had bonded their souls and hearts, but Hermione could not help and wonder if they'd be better as friends instead of lovers. There was always a lack of passion, an excess of friendliness when they made love (was it making love? Did she feel love whilst doing it?), a longing glance Ronald –or even herself– sent towards a well toned woman or man, desires kept in check thanks (or due) to a deep feeling of loyalty. She couldn't help but wonder, was the only thing that kept her with Ron duty? Loyalty? A feeling of doing 'the right thing'?

She had pondered about this a lot through those seven years. Her head was full of questions she attacked every day, and some of these questions had been left unanswered for years. Yet, right then, at that moment, she knew she was doing the right thing. She was welcoming a new life in, and she knew that this was exactly what she needed to do. A fresh start, new questions, exotic people.

Hermione Granger was ready for a new life.


	2. Chapter 2

Jane Gordon was late for work. This was a first time occurrence, since she usually arrived to her work half an hour before the second person came. She ran around her apartment, trying to find her briefcase and her laptop, putting on a high – yet sensible- heeled shoe on her left food and buttoning her white shirt on. When she finally found her briefcase, she then started panicking about her glasses, just to find she already had them on. Running towards the front door she picked up her car keys and opened the front door only to run back to her room in order to get her iPod. She didn't stand the music the radio put, and needed her dose of Queen in the morning in order to calm down and prepare for the gruesome tasks ahead.

Her colleagues labelled Jane Gordon as many things. They called her anal, bossy, insufferable, nerdy, and gorgeous… But none could deny that her classes always had the best scores at the end of the year, and so they left her to her weird teaching methods and tried to avoid getting her mad since she had a real talent with scolding. They could also not deny that they were all extremely fond of her. She was compassionate, patient and wouldn't hesitate to help anyone who needed it. She was, all in all, a great professor.

Which is why it was an extraordinary occurrence when Jane, who abhorred tardiness, speeded listening to "The Show Must Go On", ignored several stop signs and red transit lights, went flying through the school and she reached her class on the second floor extremely out of breath. She sat down at her desk, wheezing and trying to say "hello class" and failing miserably. Her 9th Grade English Literature and Creative Writing class looked at her in astonishment, and some worried about her mental health.

When she finally calmed her frantically beating heart down and managed to get some air into her screaming lungs she looked around her class and was extremely pleased when she noticed everyone was sitting at their assigned desks with their assigned partners quietly, obviously waiting for instructions. She smiled and explained that today they would be reading some more of A Streetcar Named Desire, and was glad to see this was met by enthusiastic shouts of "I want to be Blanche!" and "I want to be Stanley again, please Ms Gordon!" Getting ready for another day of class, she assigned roles and began reading.

_15 years earlier_

Astoria Greengrass glanced towards her husband and felt immeasurable disdain mount in her system. She couldn't believe she had been tricked by her parents to marry someone who was infertile. Now, she couldn't accomplish her purpose and was stuck in an unfulfilling marriage- in all sense of the word. She hated going to bed with Draco, and seeing as he knew he couldn't have children she couldn't have fun with anyone else- she couldn't risk it. It was why she had agreed to the preposterous plan of using hideous Muggle technology to see if she would be able to conceive with her "man".

She sat in an office whilst she listen do a man in a robe explain the procedure she'd have to have to see if she could possibly get pregnant. Well, listen was a long shot; she looked at the doctor feigning interest whilst her husband listened and asked questions. All she really knew is that it wouldn't hurt her and that chances were slim they could conceive due to Draco's sperm count. Or something like that. She needed a manicure. Maybe her mum would join her, or her sister; they could have some champagne whilst listening to some music. Yes, that sounded nice.

Draco however, was focusing intensely on Dr. Zorba. He was an eminence in the field of IVF and was also a squib, so he was a perfect bridge between the magical world the Malfoys came from and the Muggle world where they hoped to find a solution. He couldn't help but feel like less of man and extremely ashamed of his condition, and yearned for a son or a daughter to correct the errors his parents made with him. He wanted to be a better father than every single man in his family had ever been.

That afternoon, a triumphant sperm successfully fertilized a reluctant egg.


End file.
